Just Got Bombed by Bernie Barto at Kicks Con

fthing
Friday, December 8, 2017

The first and the biggest convention of basketball and streetwear was held in Lobby 3 Mall Kelapa Gading on November 30 – December 3, 2017. The event successfully gained an abundant attention from sneaker collectors and fashion enthusiasts. Initiated by @johnnawawi and @stevannoteddy.p, the con ws filled with many sessions, including Grail Raffle, Legit Check, Custom Your Sneakers, Showcase of Rare Sneakers, Sneakers Auction, food and beverage area and also 3 on 3 basketball event. Public figure such as @mariaselena_, @augiefantinus, @lawalata13 and @rico_cepero also came to the event and participated in Happy Baller session. That also includes the humblest bomber Bernie Barto, who splashed his work at The F Thing booth.

As Kicks Con went, let’s kick-off the question with a little snippet of your background.

“Well, I work in advertising agency. It’s my main job, and to balance it, I’m also doing street art such as graffiti – sort of a full time hobby, I guess.”

What’s your recent activity and future plan?

“Recently, I was working for my own illustration book, which mostly consists of my previous or upcoming artwork, sort of a personal portfolio. And for the future, around the mid of December, my focus will be in an event called ‘Street-Leading’, it’s also a convention for street art enthusiasts, but anyone else is welcome to join.”

Inspirations behind your work?

“Anyone, anywhere and anything. It ranges from movie, music, daily life or even thing or person I met.”

How about the recent artworks done for The F Thing booth?

“Oh, it’s my recent exploration. The past 3 years, I have developed my style from traditional graffiti letter to character graffiti. Mostly my work is inspired from folks and people. Well, the result is well-received. But most of all, it can be applied to almost anywhere.”

And what’s your signature design?

“Perhaps, Indonesian pattern. Such patterns come from Batik, Sumatra, also Dayak. I tried to implement it into my artwork. I think local artists should be using it more as an original identity of Indonesia. On the other hand, my design element mostly includes lines, but not entirely solid. Since most bombers have a tendency to show-off their skill, which is usually a solid line, I aimed to find a new alternative for spray-paint media, which turned out to be dusty line.”

Your opinion for the event and the booth?

“The event was really fun. People who were passing through, either for sightseeing or looking for tees—all are energetic and mostly young spirits. As for me, since I’m also a sneakershead, I might pick up some new gears on the way back. What I like from The F Thing, it empowered the local emerging artists.”

PART OF

The F thing is a fashion fusion forward company of the traditional and the new. It is a community based fashion and lifestyle e-commerce and content platform aiming to help local businesses to grow at an international
level and to give positive impact to millennials through video and written content, we aim to be able to be the first and leading company to do so in the South East Asian market.